Manually portable electric bilge pump with a rechargeable battery

ABSTRACT

A manually portable bilge pump having a motor powered by a rechargeable battery, enclosed in a detachable battery housing, has an intake conduit extending downward to the deepest region of a vessel&#39;s bilge and a discharge conduit preferably extending overboard or to the galley sink for delivering pumped bilge water outside the vessel.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The manually portable bilge pumps of this invention fill an important need in the marine equipment field. They are light in weight, convenient to deploy and maneuver manually, and adaptable to perform many different roles in the pumping of different vessels' bilges, ranging from sailboats, cabin cruisers and open launches up to larger vessels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bilge pumps for small boats and pleasure boats of all kinds have exhibited many disadvantages. If permanently installed, they can become clogged by entrained objects adrift in the bilge, they draw current from the vessel's batteries and may discharge them more than is desirable. If they are “portable” bilge pumps, they are often heavy and clumsy, difficult to keep in the desired operating position, and they demand the user's arm or leg movements over long periods of time. This exhausts the user unless additional crew members are available to operate such pumps by taking turns at pumping.

Accordingly it is a principal object of the invention to provide lightweight and easily maneuvered motor-driven bilge pumps capable of pumping overboard substantial volumes of bilge water while being manually deployed.

Another object is to provide such portable bilge pumps operated by rechargeable battery power, minimizing exhausting repetitive arm movement or leg movement, which can be extremely tiring to users.

A further object is to provide such portable bilge pumps with elongated intake conduits having the pumps mounted at their distal ends, while removable and rechargeable battery packs are mounted near the proximal ends of the intake conduits, each in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the assembled combination of pump, intake conduit, supporting handle and battery case, and discharge conduit.

Still another object is to provide such portable bilge pumps with flexible hose discharge conduits having ballast weights at their distal ends, to bias them toward their overboard operating position as desired by the user.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the same embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the same embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an optional second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the same second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the same second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a rear elevation view of the same second embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic side elevation view, partially broken away, showing a second embodiment in use to pump the bilge of a half-swamped skiff or small boat; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the second embodiment being used to pump the bilge of a larger pleasure vessel.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The principal components which are combined to produce the portable bilge pumps of this invention are clearly shown in the Figures, where the elongated intake conduit 10 has a distal end 11 on which an electric bilge pump 12 is operatively mounted.

Conduit 10 is preferably a rigid hollow tube and has a proximal end 13 where an ergonomically comfortable hand-grip 14 is positioned, to which a detachable battery case 16 enclosing a rechargeable battery 17 is mounted, and connected by suitable electrical conductors to bilge pump 12. A discharge tube 18 forming a protruding extension of conduit 10 beyond hand grip 14 provides an anchor collar 19 to which the proximal end of a flexible discharge hose 21 can be solidly anchored, either by a standard garden hose coupling 22, or by a screw-type expandable and contractible hose clamp 23, preferably formed of stainless steel.

A stand-off form of hand-grip 14 is shown in FIGS. 1-4, provided with a short protruding stand-off column 15 shown in FIGS. 1-4, carrying the battery case 16 at the remote end of grip 14, spaced away from intake conduit 10. A less compact embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 5-8, with a longer standoff 15A forming a pistol grip. Another embodiment is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, with case 16 mounted on hand-grip 14 with no stand-off.

The remote distal end 24 of flexible discharge hose 21 is preferably provided with a ballast weight 26 (FIG. 10) to bias it toward the overboard discharge position selected by the user. Ballast weight 26 is provided to counteract the natural tendency of a portable bilge pump discharge hose to thrash and flail about, or even jump back aboard the boat being pumped out.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the elongated intake conduit 10 may be five or six feet long or more, as required to reach from the user's operating position into the lowest region of the vessel's bilge. The flexible discharge hose 21 may be from the same length up to double or triple the length of conduit 10, to assure that it can carry the discharged bilge water overboard without spilling it back inside the vessel. Hose 21 is preferably a flexible non-kinking ribbed vinyl tube, sold for marine use and bilge pump applications. This tube springs back if stepped on, bent or crushed down flat. If desired, hose 21 may be reinforced by a resilient helical wire “spring” to counteract flattening at any bends.

The components of the bilge pumps of this invention are preferably light in weight, to reduce the weight supported by the user to the maximum possible extent. As indicated in the FIGURES, the weight of the battery 17, the battery case 16 and the hand-grip 14 are the components principally supported by the user. The weight of the intake conduit 10 and the pump 12 may be supported by the bottom of the bilge, while the weight of the flexible discharge hose 21 rests upon the vessel's gunwale 27 in FIG. 6. In FIG. 5, hose 21 could have most of its length resting on the deck.

The weight of bilge water inside conduit 10, pump 12 and hose 21 will likewise be carried by the parts of the vessel supporting those components, except for the proximal regions of conduit 10, and hose 21.

Both embodiments of this invention are believed to be valuable accessories in marinas and yacht clubs, where they can be promptly and conveniently employed whenever needed.

In addition, they may be used to pump out winter swimming pool covers, childrens' small wading pools, broken washing machines, small or large aquariums for cleaning or maintenance, standing water in puddles, bird baths and car tires, to eliminate mosquito breeding pools, and for pumping out plugged fixtures by plumbers.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. 

1. A manually portable bilge pump for removing water from the bilge of a vessel, comprising in combination An electric motor-driven pump adapted for submersible operation underwater in a sump or the bilge of a vessel, to produce an effluent discharge stream, An elongated hollow intake conduit, having an upper proximal end, and a submersible lower distal end providing anchored support for the pump, and operatively connected to receive the pump's discharge stream, A greatly elongated flexible hollow discharge conduit having a proximal end firmly anchored to the proximal end of the intake conduit and a remote open distal end, A hand-grip mounted on the elongated intake conduit near its proximal end adapted for manual support of the combined assembly by the user, And a rechargeable battery enclosed in a battery case mounted on the hand-grip with the battery operatively connected to the motor-driven pump, and removable for disconnecting and periodic recharging of the battery, whereby the combined assembly conveniently maneuvered and supported manually by a user positioned above the bilge water, while the bilge pump is submerged in the bilge water while pumping it up the intake conduit and into the flexible discharge conduit when its open distal end is positioned to discharge the pump's effluent stream at a desired location remote from the bilge being pumped.
 2. The manually portable bilge pump defined in claim 1, wherein the elongated hollow intake conduit is substantially rigid.
 3. The manually portable bilge pump defined in claim 1, wherein the flexible hollow discharge conduit incorporates a resilient helical reinforcing wire spring.
 4. The manually portable bilge pump defined in claim 1, further including a ballast weight anchored to the remote open distal end of said flexible hollow discharge conduit, thereby stabilizing it against undesired random movements.
 5. The manually portable bilge pump defined in claim 1, wherein said hand-grip incorporates a stand-off column to which said battery case is mounted. 